Disney Organizational Behavior
Axia College of the University of Phoenix
MGT 245/Organizational Theory & Behavior
Bonetta Mozingo
September 14, 2008
Disney Organizational Behavior 1
Walt Disney once said, “You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in
the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.” He realized early that the only
way his company would be successful, and he could create the environment he was striving for,
would be by implementing strategic organizational behavior methods (Waltz, 2007).
Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals,
groups, and …show more content…
The company
was also the only Hollywood studio without union representation, and as such was targeted
by the American Federation of Labor (Price, 2000). Disney soon realized its mistakes and
initialized a union (Waltz, 2007).
As successful as the Disney Company is, it is not without its skeptics. A large part of the
Disney HR management training centers on employee relations including equal employment
opportunity (Rubis, 1998). However, the National Labor Committee (NLC), an American human
rights advocacy group, has highlighted the position of 2000 Disney workers in Haiti, the poorest
Disney Organizational Behavior 4
country in the Caribbean. The NLC attempted to persuade the Walt Disney Company to allow
independent monitoring of terms and conditions in their four Haitian plants. At first Disney
claimed that it had no employees in Haiti and no responsibility for subcontractors. It then sent
its own representatives but refused requests for independent monitors. The company’s chief
executive, Michael Eisner received over $185 million in pay and share options in 1996. One
hour’s remuneration for Eisner was the equivalent of 156 years work for a Haitian machine
operator producing Disney clothing (Price, 2000). While Disney officials lay no claim to
perfection, their techniques provide plenty of food for thought for anyone involved in HR
management